What do 50c fares have to do with circular economy?

Commentary on the Queensland Government's current 50c flat fare public transport trial

Recently, the Queensland state government introduced 50c flat fares for all public transport in Queensland, regardless of distance travelled, for a 6-month trial.  Putting cynical views about politics and upcoming state government elections aside, I think it will be a very interesting social experiment. 

I am not a transport expert but, in my experience, these are the four main things that I think about when I weigh up the options of public transport versus driving a private car to make a trip:

1.      Cost – the published price of a public transport trip should ideally be approximately equal to or less than the acknowledged costs of using a private car ie. fuel and parking.  I say ‘acknowledged’ costs of using a private car because the hidden sunk costs like registration, insurance, maintenance and depreciation are costs that people (me included) don’t routinely factor in when making a decision about whether to use public transport or not. 

2.      Time – the time taken to catch public transport ‘door to door’ needs to be comparable (within reason) to that same trip taken by car.  I’m not going to catch a train to the beach on my weekend if it takes me 2 hours each way, but only 45 mins in my car, for example.   However, I readily catch the train to work because it takes me less time than it would if I drove, even off-peak. 

3.      Convenience – this one is closely related to time for me but also includes an aspect of comfort.  I want access to regular services (ideally no less than every 15 minutes) that depart and arrive from within about a 10-15 min walk of my home or my destination.  Any further than that eats too much into my time, but also in hot and humid Brisbane, makes for a very sweaty commute in summer, although I am happy about the additional step count to keep me fit and active.    

4.      Accessibility and safety – I am a fit, able-bodied person but I know from my time with small children or elderly parents in tow that accessibility to public transport is a critical decision-making factor.  And as a woman, so too is safety.  There are certain times or circumstances under which nothing else but my perceptions of safety matter in which case I prefer a car every time (despite the likely higher risk of having a traffic accident in that car versus being assaulted accessing a bus or train).

It makes sense that these levers all intersect and carry different weight at different times, depending on the context.  However, this experiment is interesting because it is a rare opportunity to see the impact of changing only one of these levers, while keeping everything else exactly the same, at scale. 

So what does all that have to do with circular economy, exactly? Well nothing, explicitly, but everything implicitly. 

Just the idea of more people using public transport instead of private cars is an implicit reflection of Principle #1: Design out waste and pollution.  Public transport is more resource efficient (ie. fuel and materials) than a private car is (particularly as the trend towards large SUV’s and pick-up trucks gathers pace), and as public transport shifts to renewable energy sources, associated pollution will also significantly reduce.  And of course, in some cities public transport is already so good that people avoid buying cars altogether, as was my experience when I lived in London.

Principle #2: Keep materials in use at highest value possible is also better supported through greater user of public transport than the private car.  The typical service life of rail rolling stock is approximately 30 years and that of buses is 15 years, both significantly more than the average passenger vehicle which is about 10 years old in Australia[1].  Also note that approximately 30% of Australia’s passenger vehicle fleet is less than 5 years old. So, public transport does a much better job of keeping vehicles in use for a much longer period of time, further contributing to an overall reduction in resource consumption.

And finally, greater use of public transport supports Principle #3: Regenerate the Planet in a number of ways, and I have related these benefits to the relevant planetary boundaries:

• Climate change:  Reduced carbon emissions from tail-pipes and manufacture

• Change in biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss):  Less land needed for road and parking infrastructure and mining of minerals needed for manufacture, which in turn has benefits for flora and fauna

• Land system change (deforestation): As above, with the benefit being less deforestation

• Introduction of novel entities: Reduction in particulates and other pollutants making their way into the environment from manufacturing and fuel combustion emissions

Overall, the Ellen Macarthur Foundation defines circular mobility systems as being multi-modal and shared, accessible, affordable and effective.  Sound familiar?  These are the same four things that I think about when I weigh up my transport options, not by design but because this is just common sense.

At the end of this trial, my prediction is that we will not see a clear cut shift in people’s behaviours across the board, similar to the findings in Germany when a similar experiment was undertaken nationwide in 2022.  This is precisely because cost is only one factor in the decision-making process.  However, I do hope that it shows enough promise that future governments consider making lower fares a permanent change.

To me, the ultimate goal is to have circular or sustainable outcomes embedded in everyday life such that it becomes cultural norm or “the way we do things around here”.  It means that no matter which choice a person makes, circularity and sustainability are embedded and there will be a better outcome for the environment.  So, it doesn’t matter that a person is not weighing up ‘circular outcomes’ against cost or convenience when deciding which mode of transport to take because that has already been done for them.   

Further reading:

1.      Ellen Macarthur Foundation:  https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy-opportunity-and-benefit-factsheets#urban-mobility-system

2.      Circular City Funding Guide:  https://www.circularcityfundingguide.eu/circular-sector/mobility/

3.      German’s nationwide public transport fare policy: 

a.      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X24000038 

b.      https://cities-today.com/germany-extends-e49-transport-ticket-until-end-of-2024/#:~:text=According%20to%20Germany's%20Office%20for,higher%20than%20in%20June%202019.

c.      https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/cp_data_news/subsidised-train-tickets-germany-and-spain-set-an-example/

     

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[1] https://www.drive.com.au/news/australia-average-vehicle-age-is-10-1-years/